Being a member of an orchestra looks like it's a blast. That's the impression one takes away from photos by Eric Berlin, principal trumpet of the Albany Symphony Orchestra. A collection of about 50 of his shots taken at rehearsals, tours, and educational events is now on display at the Photography Center of the Capital District in Troy. The images have also been collected into a new book, "Music for the Eyes: Albany Symphony Musicians at Work," jointly produced by the Photo Center and the ASO.

There are fine shots of stellar guest artists like cellist Yo-Yo Ma and percussionist Evelyn Glennie, also lush panoramas of the august venues, from the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall and EMPAC to Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center. But it's the candid shots of the musicians and composers that communicate a spirit of community and shared delight.

It's good to see the players wearing colorful street clothes and not the usual black concert attire. But more than that, their faces are alive with curiosity and determination. The sequence of the book contributes to the effect. Following a laudatory introduction from Music Director David Alan Miller, there's a shot of the maestro in a muscly Superman costume. Actually that getup is, in fact, concert attire for the game-for-anything Miller, who dons it now and then at family concerts.

Berlin has been snapping pictures since he was a kid, but the portability and affordability of digital photography really grabbed him around 2014. "As with most things I do, I became absolutely obsessed with it," says Berlin, who started investing in new lenses and new cameras and shooting his fellow musicians whenever he didn't have to be playing his trumpet.

Figuring that it was time to start showing the photos to more than just his Facebook friends, Berlin introduced himself to Nicholas Argyros, founding director of the Photo Center. Argyros, a longtime ASO subscriber, was immediately taken with the work. Berlin left the curatorial decisions entirely up to Argyros, who with his team dove into a hard drive containing about 700 photos to cull the images for the show and book.

The exhibition is on view at the Photo Center through Oct. 13. Berlin will be on hand to sign books during Troy Night Out on 5-9 p.m. on Friday. After the show closes in Troy, it will be rehung for a one-night-only reception and auction at the Arcade Building in downtown Albany. That event, taking place 5-7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19, will kick off the ASO's new season which starts with a 7:30 p.m. performance the Palace Theatre. And the concert's headline work? Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition," of course.

All proceeds from Berlin's new book, priced at $40, and from sales of prints will benefit the orchestra. For more information on the Oct. 19 reception, call the ASO box office at (518) 694-3300. The Photo Center is located at 404 River Street in Troy. More info at: photocentertroy.org.

New music directors

The top posts at two community ensembles have recently been filled and the incoming maestros will soon be making their debuts. The new music director of the Schenectady Symphony Orchestra is Glen Cortese, who will continue as music director of Western New York Chamber Orchestra, a post he's held for a decade. Cortese, who is also a composer, was an assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta early in his career. In addition to work with numerous orchestras and opera companies, he was for five years the music director of the Erick Hawkins Dance Company. The SSO's four-concert season opens on Sunday, Oct. 13 at Proctors with an all-Mozart program. More info at: schenectadysymphony.org.

Noah Palmer is the new artistic director of the Battenkill Chorale. Palmer, who lives in Albany, is already well integrated into the local music community. He currently serves as assistant director and accompanist for Albany Pro Musica and assistant conductor of the Broad Street Chorale and Orchestra, which is based in Kinderhook. The Battenkill's next concert will be a celebration of its 25th anniversary and feature Handel's Coronation Anthems and Mozart's Coronation Mass. It's scheduled for 3 p.m. January 19, 2020, at the Zankel Music Center on the campus of Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs. More info at: battenkillchorale.org

Are you already missing the summer opera season? Well, live opera has not completely vanished from these parts. Here's a smattering of worthwhile events to consider.

The Opera Company of Middlebury is bringing its staging of Puccini's "Tosca" to Hubbard Hall in Cambridge at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 17. The cast features soprano Suzanne Kantorski as Tosca, tenor James Flora as Cavaradossi, and bass baritone Rubin Casas as Scarpia. Jeffrey Rink will conduct the fully staged production with orchestra.

Also coming up at Hubbard Hall is a return of singers from the Seagle Music Colony. "Hot – The Music of Cole Porter" will be offered at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5. More info at: hubbardhall.org

Finally, Clarion Concert's Leaf Peeper series concludes its fall season with "Science Fair: An Opera with Experiments," at 7 p.m. Saturday Oct. 26 at Hudson Hall in Hudson. Mezzo-soprano Hai-Ting Chinn created and performs what should be a lively undertaking, an experiment with science, but also with opera. While singing original works by several contemporary composers, she performs basic science experiments. The show is divided into sections or numbers with titles like: "Our Solar System," "The Amazing Atom" and "Extracting DNA from a Strawberry." More info at: clarionconcerts.org.